A scheme to allow schoolchildren in Oxfordshire to ask for the morning-after pill by text message has been condemned by religious leaders.

From July, girls as young as 11 at four secondary schools in Oxford and two in Banbury will be able to text requests for the pill – without their parents’ knowledge – if they have had unprotected sex, or believe contraception has failed.

The service is being introduced jointly by Oxfordshire County Council and Oxfordshire Primary Care Trust after a jump of almost ten per cent in the number of girls aged 18 and under getting pregnant.

The move angered members of the Catholic Church – however both authorities say they have received no complaints about the scheme.

Chairman of the Oxford Central Mosque Sabir Hussain Mirza said: “I’m absolutely shocked this kind of thing is happening.

“This is a disaster allowing underage children to do this without the knowledge of their parents.

“There’s too much freedom given to the children and they don’t know the meaning of their freedom.”

Rabbi Eli Brackman, leader of the Oxford’s Jewish society said: “Britain has long had the highest rate of teenage pregnancy in Europe.

“However, I believe strongly that parents need to be involved in a child’s upbringing and any measures that sideline that relationship is not healthy for the child and not healthy for society.”

But Anglican minister Roger Burne, a former GP, expressed his support for the scheme.

Mr Burne, minister at the Church of the Holy Family in Blackbird Leys, said: “It sounds an eminently sensible idea to me.

“They are using text as a means of putting young girls who are in trouble in touch with professional help.

“I’d far rather girls in that situation had that conversation, whatever the outcome of them taking the morning-after pill or not, if they are concerned.

Dr Burne, a former GP at St Bartholomew's in Cowley Road added: “Going to see your doctor particularly if you’re young is not an easy thing to do, especially if they are your family doctor regardless of whether it should be confidential.

“If my daughter was 15 and worried that she maybe pregnant I’d far rather she had the chance to make an initial contact in a way that was comfortable for her.

“I would be worried about not confiding in parents but sometimes that’s not the easiest thing to do.”

Carole Partlett, a teenage pregnancy support worker at the John Radcliffe Hospital, said: “I think it’s a really good idea.

“Kids text all the time and the way I make most of my contacts with young mums is through texting.

“I’m sure children will use it responsibly.”